Gainesville police say they have surveillance video that shows a man wanted for breaking into hearses and stealing the gurneys inside.
Detectives showed Channel 2 Action News video of a man creeping around the back of a Gainesville funeral home, one of two where a thief broke into hearses.
Billy Hendrix, who operates Memorial Parks Funeral Homes and Cemeteries, said the crimes hurt the people they serve.
“They’ve lost somebody and somebody wants to come take something and create a loss to us,” Hendrix said.
Jimmy Brewer, owner of Ward’s Funeral Home, said cameras show a man pulling up in a silver minivan, then shining a light into each hearse before bashing in the window of one. The man is unable to get the gurney out and leaves. But a day later a gurney disappeared from Memorial Parks.
“We hope that the public will help us identify this individual,” Gainesville police Cpl. Kevin Holbrook said.
The funeral home owners say they’ve heard of these kinds of thefts, but have never seen anything like it in the area. They said they don’t know of a motive.
But, Hendrix said, “There’s value obviously; new stretchers can range anywhere from $1,800 to well over $4, 000.”
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